Insulator finishing brushing machine



7 April 18, 1933.

D. BETTINI 1,904,608

INSULATOR FINISHING BRUSHING MACHINE Filed Dec. 20, 1930 Hllllllllllllllllllllllllllh Jcz Va'a! Be 6 25 67 z;

Patented Apr. 18, 1933 UNITED NT o FicE DAVID BETTINI, OFQBALTIMOREJMARYLAND,ASSIGNOR T LOCKE INSULATOR'COR- PORATION, OFBALTIMORE MARYLLAND, A CORPORATION' 0F MARYLAND ZINSIULALTORTINISHING: BRU-SHING MACHINE Application filedi Deccmber, 20,1:1930. :Seria1;No .,503,849.

The invention relates to apparatus for the manufacture of porcelainvinsulators and/has special referenceto machines for finishing and dressing insulators, particularly 'those of the strain type for guy or other use.

- It is well knownjthatguy strain insulators andthe like comprise a block or otherbody of porcelain formed with interlinking passages for the reception of metallic, fittings which project in opposite directions (from the opposite sides of thebody so that the material between the passages is under compression when theinsulator is in service. Various means may be employedfor forming these passages-while thecinsulator body is in a Fgreen or somewhatplasticcondition. -Va rious types of cutters maybe used. Regardless of the exact method of and meansemployed, for forming the passages, the factremains that the edges are very apt to be rough and uneven ifsnot actually torn. {It therefore becomes necessary to dress, smooth and round ofi the edges so thatthe insulator, when finished vill be freefrom roughness or irregularities of any sort. "It is of-course'possible that this work may be done manually by pressing and-wiping the clay either vby means of the fingers or some suitabletool.

However, as such methods are slow, I have devised the present invention which has .for its general object the provision ofia motor driven rotary and reciprocatory brush against which anyof the surfaces offthe insulator, when in a partially dry condition, may be placed or onto-which the insulator may be passed so that the brush will operate within the passages. for smoothing the walls thereof and making them true.

An important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this character embodying a novel transmission mechanism for imparting reciprocatory as .well as rotary motion to thebrush sothat it Willhavearapid and eiiicient action without grooving the f body of the insulator as might be thecase'if the motion werepurely rotary. v

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this character which will be simple and inexpensive to make, easy to assemble, positive in action, eflicient and durable in service, :and a general improvement in'theart.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other objects andadvantages, the invention preferably consists in the'details of constructionand the arrangement and'combination of parts to. be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the vaccompanying drawing in which: i a

"Figural 's aside elevation of the machine with {the removable cover in section and showing it working upona guy strain insulator, i

Figure '2;is a detail longitudinal section takenfalong the drive shaft and showing the details of the transmission, and

Figure '3 is a cross section takenonithe line of Figure 2. Broadly considered, the invention comprisesa powerdevice such as an electric motor,a brush,'wiper or thelike rotated thereby and a transmission mechanism likewise operatedbyfthe motor for imparting reciprocatorymovement .to the brush or wiper.

R-eferring .more particularly to the drawing, the numeral designates a suitable sup- .port Which'may be a table or stand, upon whichjisimounted an electric motor 11, details ofwhichare not shown but which has the usual shaft 12. Mounted on the base or'supportlO :inspaced relationto theimotor llis a suit'ablebearing 13 within which is slidably androtatably mounteda sleeve 14 telescoped onto ,theishaft 12. and held slidably and nonrotatably thereon by means of a spline 15. At one end this sleeve carries'a chuck 16 for holding the shank 17 of a tool 18 which might be a-wiper but whichis .preferablyabrush formedeither of bristles or fine Wires, wl1ichever is foundmore suitable. At its other end the {sleeve-is formed with a pair of spaced disks19 and20; I

Mounted von the motor are. suitable vbearings 2l through which is journaled a shaft '22 equippedeat one .end with a gear 23 meshing equippedat its up-per'end witha bevel gear 28 meshing with the bevel gear 25 and equipped at its lower end with an eccentric 29 located between and cooperating with the disks 19 and 20.

In the operation of the apparatus, when the motor is energized the shaft 12 will of course be rotated and by virtue of the spline 15 will cause rotation of the sleeve 14, chuck'16 and brush 18. At the same time, the rotation of the pinion 24 on the motor shaft will turn the gear 23, shaft 22 and bevel gear 25 and consequently cause rotation of'the gear 28, shaft 27 and eccentric 29. As the eccentric is confined between the disks 19 and 20, it will be seen that as it turns it will coact with these disks in alternation and slide the sleeve 14 longitudinally upon the shaft 12 and within the bearing 13 so that reciprocatory motion will be imparted to the brush 18 simultaneously with its rotation.

In the use of the mechanism, it is intended that the insulator 30, which is here shown as of the guy strain type with interlinking passages 31, is taken in the hands of the operator and moved about or manipulated in such manner asto bring any desired surfaces thereof into engagement with the moving brush. Insulators of this type frequently have longitudinally extending grooves in the sides and it is quite apparent that by bringing the grooved portions into engagement with the brush they will be smoothed out and dressed so as to be even and uniform. The corners may also be rounded off. Attention is called to the fact that one. of the principal utilities of the apparatus is its ability to dress out the interlinking passages 31. Of course the brush must be of an appropriate diameter depending upon the size of these passages and it will be seen that the insulator may be slid onto the brush so that the brush will pass through one of the passages. The operator then tilts the insulator back and forth so that the brush may be brought into contact with the curved wall 32 of the passage and efl'ectually smooth off all portions thereof to protect the mechanism against clogging on account of dust or particles of clay abraded off and it is preferable to provide a removable .hood or cover 33 having an opening 34 ac- :(iimmodating the tubular member or sleeve Clearly the device may be used for dressing off insulators of any and all types, it's use not being is any way restricted to any one type of insulator though logically it is peculiarly adapted for dressing out passages or recesses which may be more or less inaccessible where ordinary methods and apparatus are employed. Of'course this dressing is done at some stage in the manufacture prior to firing, the probability being that best results can be obtained when the in-- sulator is in a bone dry condition though it should be remembered that the device'will operate even though there be an appreciable moisture content in the insulator body. A feature of importance is that the reciprocatory movement prevents any grooving of the material such as might occur if the motion were purely rotary and the operator neglected to move the insulator about properly with respect to the brush. By means of this mechanism the work of dressing insulators may be carried out expeditiously and with a reachanges constitute no departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In an insulator finishing machine, a stationary support, a motor mounted thereon and having a shaft, bearing means on the sup port, a tubular member slidable and rotatable within the bearing means and having a splined telescopic connection with said shaft, an abrading element carried by said tubular member, means driven by the motor for reciprocating said tubular member simultaneously with rotation thereof, comprising 001- lars carried by said tubular member and an eccentric driven by the motor shaft and lo cated between and cooperating with said collars.

2. In an insulator finishing, machine, a A

stationary support, a motor mounted thereon and having a horizontal shaft, bearing means on the support, a tubular member slidable and rotatable within the bearing means and having a splined telescopic connection with said shaft, an abrading element carried by said tubular member, means driven by the motor for reciprocating said tubular member simultaneously with'rotation thereof, comprising collars on said tubular member, an eccentric located between and cooperating with said collars, a vertical shaft carrying said eccentric, bearing means on the motor for said vertical shaft, and countershafting driven by the motor shaft and driving said vertical shaft. 1

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

- DAVID BETTINI. 

